Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Four Things Jesus Said That Are Hard to Preach
The parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43 is one of Jesus’ clearest teachings on hell. The devil sows while we sleep, God allows evil for now as an act of mercy, everyone is either wheat or weeds, and hell is the destination for the weeds. Believing what Jesus believed should move us to resist the enemy, reach the lost and receive the Savior.
Message notes
With Pastor Pat beginning a 12-week sabbatical, Thomas Costello brings this message, recorded again after a problem with the Sunday recording. He says up front that it is about hell and the devil, some of the hardest teachings in the Gospels, and that he had never heard a sermon on this passage.
He reads the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30 and Jesus’ private explanation in verses 36-43, then shows a version with Jesus’ own meanings substituted in. Thomas admits he was tempted to sanitize it. While praying, he sensed God say, “Thomas, you are not more kind than me.” He then lays out four hard lessons.
First, the devil sows while we sleep. Thomas recalls a woman at a Texas cowboy church who rebuked the devil out of her car when the real problem was an empty gas tank. Some Christians see the devil everywhere, but most functionally don’t believe in him. He works when we are distracted and plants counterfeits that look like wheat until harvest.
Second, God allows evil for now. The servants could pull the weeds, but the owner says no, because the wheat might come up too. Thomas says God waits as an act of mercy, since every believer was once a weed who needed time to repent. He mentions a life group friend, Pastor Ross, who can’t wait for heaven.
Third, everyone is either wheat or weeds. Scripture teaches we are born with a sin nature, the opposite of the world’s belief that people are born good, and nobody passes the good person test apart from Jesus.
Fourth, hell is the destination for the weeds. Thomas notes that Jesus talked about hell more than anyone in Scripture. He explains universalism and annihilationism, and says historic Christian teaching holds to eternal conscious torment, even if the fire imagery is figurative.
He gives three responses. Resist the enemy by rebuking him in Jesus’ name and memorizing verses for your temptations. Reach the lost: on Mother’s Day a friend called him after his college-age nephew died by suicide, grieving the times he had felt prompted to share the gospel and hadn’t. Receive the Savior: count the cost and make Jesus Lord. He closes with a prayer of surrender.
From the message
Thomas, you are not more kind than me.
The devil does his best work by just not having us pay any attention to him whatsoever.
Jesus talks about hell more than anybody in all of scripture.
God is good, eternity is long, and you have a choice.
Life Group discussion guide
Four Things Jesus Said That Are Hard to Preach, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. May 24, 2026.
Start here
Have you ever planted a garden or pulled weeds? What made the weeds hard to tell apart or hard to get rid of?
Read Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Open your Bibles and read it out loud together before you start.
What does it say?
In Matthew 13:25, when does the enemy sow the weeds, and what does he do afterward?
Why does the owner tell his servants not to pull the weeds in verses 29-30, and what does he say will happen at the harvest?
In Jesus’ explanation in verses 37-39, who is the sower, what is the field, and who are the good seed, the weeds and the enemy?
What does it mean?
Thomas pointed out that weeds look almost identical to wheat until harvest. How does that picture the way the devil works through counterfeits, as with Eve in Genesis 3:1?
How does the owner’s choice to wait in verse 29 show God’s mercy, and what does it say about God’s justice that the harvest still comes?
Jesus, who loved people better than anyone, also talked about hell more than anyone. How do those two things fit together?
What do we do with it?
Where are you most likely to be “asleep” to the enemy, whether in your thought life, your habits or your schedule? What verse could you memorize to fight back?
Who in your family, work or neighborhood have you felt prompted to talk with about Jesus but haven’t? What would one step toward that conversation look like this week?
Following Jesus costs you everything. What part of your life are you still running for your own purposes instead of his?
Pray
Thank God for his patience that gave you time to turn to him. Ask him for courage to resist the enemy’s lies and to share the gospel with the specific people he has put on your heart.
New Hope Hawaii Kai. Watch the message and read the notes at newhopehk.org/sermons/four-things-jesus-said-that-are-hard-to-preach/